Politico Defends Publishing Shapiro Column After Intense Leftist Backlash – By Emily Zanotti (Daily Wire) / January 14 2021
Politico’s top editor, Matt Kaminski, released a statement Thursday defending the outlet’s decision to publish an op-ed by Daily Wire editor emeritus Ben Shapiro, even as leftists, including reportedly some of Politico’s own staffers, decried the publication for daring to publish “an oft-incendiary right-wing commentator,” as the oft-incendiary left-wing Daily Beast puts it.
Nearly as soon as Politico’s morning email, Playbook, hit inboxes, leftists took to Twitter to decry the newsmagazine’s decision to allow Shapiro access to its “signature news product,” melting down over the mere thought of Shapiro gaining access to the outlet’s email audience.
Among the more notable complaints came from The Week’s Ryan Cooper, who accuses Shapiro not just of having a differing opinion, but of supposedly “bribing” Politico — and of killing the environment while doing it.
“Ben Shapiro is a racist liar, but he also arranged for an oil company to give Politico a massive bribe, so, it’s impossible to say if hes bad or not,” Cooper wrote in a much-maligned tweet.
Ben Shapiro is a racist liar, but he also arranged for an oil company to give Politico a massive bribe, so, it;s impossible to say if hes bad or not, pic.twitter.com/cwSgHG0HBy
— ryan cooper (@ryanlcooper) January 14, 2021